Corporate liquidity profiles have been severely challenged during the lockdown. Sarah Harrison, Head of European High Yield, believes the policy response in Europe so far has helped stem default rates, and further action has the potential to restore investor confidence in the European High Yield asset class. Listen now.

Alternative risk premia (ARP) is a newly coined industry category. While a convenient catchall term, it belies the heterogeneity of these strategies which can be risk-seeking, risk-mitigating and anywhere in between. Recent press has thrown a spotlight on ARP strategies, but it fails to tell the whole story.

As investors grapple with the portfolio implications of a global pandemic, fintech-driven alternative lending may offer attractive absolute and risk-adjusted return characteristics. An allocation to this nascent private credit asset class may provide exposure to a secular shift in the way consumers and small businesses access capital.

Andrew Slimmon, Head of the Applied Equity Advisors Team, offers a timely perspective on what is shaping the markets now as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk within global equities. Listen to his Market Alert.

Alternative Investment Partners Private Markets, part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, today announced it has built upon its $800 million
impact investing platform by closing on a fund which will focus on climate solutions. The $110
million fund seeks to address critical climate issues including global warming and pollution,
depleting resources and eco diversity.

On April 29 the Fed indicated the need to keep credit flowing, for both for businesses and individuals. To date most of the Fed’s actions are supporting credit in the business sector, to the point where we do not believe the Fed has done enough with respect to consumer credit, particularly in light of their statements about keeping credit flowing to the “real economy.” Jim Caron looks at a Fed that is playing a strong hand, but unwilling to show all its cards.

Andrew Slimmon, Head of the Applied Equity Advisors Team, offers a timely perspective on what is shaping the markets now as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk within global equities. Listen to his Market Alert.

The first quarter ended in a far different place than where the year started. Portfolio Jim Caron reflects on how these unexpected developments impacted the portfolio, and offers his perspective on what’s to come.

Jitania Kandhari, Head of Macroeconomic Research on the Global Emerging Markets team and portfolio manager for the Emerging Markets Breakout Nations and Active International Allocation strategies, provides timely insights on why we believe now is the time for emerging market equities. Listen now.

We’re hopeful that policy actions will help the economy return to normal as the health crisis recedes. But it remains unknown how deep and protracted the downturn will be as we’re held hostage to the path of the virus.

We are facing a health crisis the likes of which we have not witnessed for close to a century. A seismic move to de-risk portfolios has created volatility and illiquidity not seen since 2008, and it is against this uncertain backdrop we invest today. Read more about the Global Fixed Income Team’s best thinking.

Andrew Slimmon, Head of the Applied Equity Advisors Team, offers a timely perspective on what is shaping the markets now as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk within global equities. Listen to his Market Alert.

TSG Consumer Partners, a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on the branded consumer and retail sectors, today announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Pathway Vet Alliance LLC from investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. As part of the transaction, Pathway management will continue to lead the Company and retain a significant minority stake. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

It's critical to understand the policy reaction functions designed to support markets during times of crisis because it provides insight into which assets may perform best as the economy moves out of the crisis environment.

Michael Kushma, Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, and Richard Class, Head of Product Development for EMEA and European Multi Sector Strategies, Portfolio Manager, presented an update on the Fixed Income Portfolio on 26 March 2020.

Andrew Slimmon, Head of the Applied Equity Advisors Team, offers a timely perspective on what is shaping the markets now as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk within global equities. Listen to his Market Alert.

Despite the economic impact of COVID19, on-shore and off-shore China markets continue to offer exposure to a wide breadth of companies and sectors not readily available elsewhere, in the view of Investment Management’s Global Emerging Markets Equity team.

Leaders in the next decade will likely include frontier markets, such as Vietnam, Egypt and Indonesia, according to Investment Management’s Global Emerging Markets Equity team. Our Frontier strategy remains focused on quality growth companies despite the coronavirus and we believe investments will emerge stronger relative to competitors.

Even before the corona-induced sell-off, emerging market equities were cheap relative to the US and their own history. After the COVID-19 drawdown, valuations present an extraordinarily attractive entry point, says Investment Management’s Global Emerging Markets Equity team.

Climate change is inescapable and many—if not all—governments are responding more decisively than ever. A significant risk is that markets are not pricing in the effects of these policy responses quickly enough. We explore five sectors—financial services, mining, oil and gas, utilities and autos—likely to be hit the hardest.

Andrew Slimmon, Head of the Applied Equity Advisors Team, offers a timely perspective on what is shaping the markets now as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk within global equities. Listen to his Market Alert.

The initial market response to the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting on March 12th was disappointment – equity prices fell while Bund yields rose, depsite the ECB actually delivered nearly everything analysts had been expecting from it.

Andrew Slimmon, Head of the Applied Equity Advisors Team, offers a timely perspective on what is shaping the markets now as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk within global equities. Listen to his Market Alert.

Andrew Slimmon, Head of the Applied Equity Advisors Team, offers a timely perspective on what is shaping the markets now as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk within global equities. Listen to his Market Alert.

Andrew Slimmon, Head of the Applied Equity Advisors Team, offers a timely perspective on what is shaping the markets now as well as insights on investment opportunities and risk within global equities. Listen to his Market Alert.

cPacket Networks, a leading provider of network-aware application and security assurance solutions, announced it has completed a $15 million round of funding by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. The investment will be used to accelerate cPacket’s focus on product innovation and deployment of its broad range of high-performance network visibility products for the cloud, data center, and branch offices.